July.
They survived the locust plague, but not the drought; 30% of the rice they planted this year died from the drought.
Nowadays, the river in Anping Village is so dry that you can see the bottom of the river.
The river that used to be a place where you could swim and catch fish has been turned into a stream where you can see right to the bottom.
The harvest in Anping Village was also severely damaged. Every household had farmland that had died from drought. It wasn't that they weren't hardworking, but some farmland couldn't be irrigated enough even with daily irrigation, and still died from drought.
Nowadays, Anping Village's visitor traffic can only be described as sparse, which is a sign that it is not far from closing down.
In order to minimize losses, Old Man Chen dismissed all his employees and sent them home.
Old Chen's pig farm is gone. Now, only ten pigs remain, including some old ones.
The remaining pigs were made into cured pork and sausages. The Chen family didn't sell this batch of meat; they kept it for their own consumption.
Besides pig farms, chicken and duck farms have also reduced production due to water shortages.
The Chen family wasn't the only one doing this; every household did it.
Anping Village raises a large number of chickens, ducks, and geese. Once they are put into the river, the water level immediately drops to the bottom. If this continues, the river will dry up.
The chickens, ducks, and geese in Anping Village are free-range, roaming in large flocks. When they see the river water, they can't help but drink from it.
Moreover, the village chiefs of several downstream villages have come to us. If this continues, they might really start fighting over the water source.
There was no other way but to sell the chickens, ducks, and geese. From now on, breeding will be restricted, and small-scale breeding will not be allowed. We can only raise a dozen or so poultry as usual.
Several families in the village were forced to sell their chickens, ducks, and geese and were very unwilling to accept it, so they were making a scene at their homes.
“Village chief, you have to be reasonable! My family’s chickens, ducks and geese haven’t even been sold yet, and they’ve already been sold. We’ve suffered a huge loss. You have to make up for it. Our family relies on these chickens, ducks and geese to exchange for grain to survive. You’re cutting off our food supply!” an old woman cried out.
“Yes, village chief, you’re cutting off our food supply and leaving us no way to survive!” another old woman chimed in.
An old woman saw an opportunity and said, "You must compensate with grain, or you must compensate with money!"
Just as the village chief was about to reprimand these unreasonable people, his wife spoke up, "Keep making trouble! If you keep making trouble, we'll hand you over to the people in the downstream village. They're waiting for an explanation from our village. We'll see if we don't beat you until you're bloodied and bruised, and then we'll see if you're still so arrogant!"
Loss? Isn't that a joke? Everyone in the village knows that you can make a profit even selling chicks, let alone fully grown chickens, ducks, and geese. How dare they come to their house to cause trouble?
The old woman was terrified and screamed, "How dare you do this? Have you no sense of reason?!"
The village chief's wife sneered, "Everyone knows in their hearts who is being unreasonable. If you dare to cause trouble, we dare to hand you over."
The women were frightened and ultimately had to return empty-handed.
Recently, many villages have been fighting over water, and some people have even been killed.
This time, several villages downstream came demanding an explanation, and they all came armed with hoes, sickles, and sticks. These people are not made of clay.
If I hadn't worked in Anping Village before and cut off their water supply, a fight would have broken out long ago.
The old women who returned home were seething with anger, but they dared not curse the village chief, so they cursed the people from the downstream village instead.
“Those ungrateful people, when our village was doing well, they all shamelessly fawned over us. Now that we're down on our luck, they actually dare to come and challenge us with hoes just for a little water. They're really despicable!”
Chen Kai sighed helplessly as he watched this scene.
Anping Village had finally solved its basic needs for food and clothing and was on the verge of achieving a moderately prosperous life, but in the end, it returned to square one.
The fern root powder factory went bankrupt! The aquaculture farm went bankrupt! The pig farm went bankrupt! The chicken, duck, and goose farm went bankrupt!
Low yields in farmland.
Nowadays, even the scenic area business is on the verge of bankruptcy.
And we still have to fight the drought; it's like we're getting worse as we get older.
Previously, the water diverted from the mountain to the village had all dried up. The village chief sent some people to go up the mountain again to find a water source and see if they could divert it down for use.
But as they searched up the mountain, the former pools and streams had all turned into small puddles. Although they were still flowing water, they were too small to be channeled.
Water management in the village is now very strict. Each household is allocated water according to the number of people in the household each day, and the remaining water is divided equally among the households. No matter how many chickens or ducks you raise and how much water you need, that's how it's divided. If you want extra water, you have to find it yourself.
In early August, Anping Village Scenic Area officially closed and announced its closure.
At this time, the river in the village was so dry that the riverbed was exposed. There was no river anymore, only some small puddles in the river. Before long, even the small puddles would evaporate.
A few days later, Chen Laosi and his men, who had gone out to find a water source, rushed back and said excitedly, "Dad, Mom, we've found a water source! We can bring back several cartloads of water!"
Old Man Chen said happily, "Eldest brother, you guys quickly prepare the tools and go fetch water."
Nowadays, Anping Village no longer dares to hope to find a water source on the mountain and bring it down; they are lucky if they can find a pool of running water.
Now, if they want to keep their livestock alive, they have to go up the mountain to find water to transport back.
Because the competition for water was fierce, several families almost fought over it. So the village chief made a rule that whichever family found a water source first would be responsible for it for one day. After that day, if there was still water in the source, each family would have to take it by their own means. But fighting was not allowed. Anyone who dared to fight would have their share of the well water allocated by the village confiscated.
Chen Kai and Xiao Tian rode in the donkey cart and went along as well.
Seeing that they were heading towards Moon Lake, Chen Kai asked curiously, "Is the water over there at Moon Lake?"
Chen Laosi said, "Yes, that water source is over at Moon Lake Mountain. We've been there before. It's that stone pool where water gushes out. Water is still gushing out from that stone."
Upon hearing that it was over there, Chen Kai's eyes lit up, and he made up his mind to go down and take a look at that mysterious cave.
When they arrived at Moon Lake, the donkey cart stopped.
Old Chen and his men unloaded the donkey cart, tied the donkeys to the wooden stakes with ropes, gave them some water, and let them graze around.
The grass on the meadow was all dry and withered, without a trace of green. The donkey ate a little and then lay down to rest.
"Sigh! Even the donkeys are turning down this hay," Chen Laowu sighed.
Old Chen pushed a few wheelbarrows down the mountain. The remaining road was difficult to travel, and they would have to go up the mountain later. The road was remote and the mountain path was narrow, so they could only use wheelbarrows.
After putting the buckets into the wheelbarrow, everyone set off.
We passed through Moon Lake—yes, Moon Lake, because the lake was dry.
The once beautiful Moon Lake has dried up, revealing a bizarre riverbed with strange rocks, animal remains, old tree roots, horns of unknown animals, turtle shells, and all sorts of other strange things.
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